Graduate Project Assistant

The Economy, Enterprise and Skills team at Devon County Council have a new opportunity for a graduate to join them to support the delivery of a wide range of economic activities and projects.  You will gain valuable experience working on initiatives that aim to raise Devon’s profile as a place to live, work, invest, learn and visit and schemes that champion innovation and business sustainability.  You will be a University of Exeter member of staff seconded to Devon Council for this role which is part of the Graduate Business Partnership Scheme and is for 12 months from December 2021.         

The University of Exeter manages paid internships for graduates, placing them with small, medium and large organisations or companies in the South West. For more information on the GBP scheme please visit www.exeter.ac.uk/internships

Duties and responsibilities will include supporting the team manager in effective delivery and evaluation of certain programmes or projects, conducting baseline assessments of project beneficiaries and working with colleagues to develop effective and innovative ways of measuring project progress against aims, and measuring progress, impact and communicating change. The appointee will communicate by telephone, email and face to face with a wide range of internal and external, private and public sector, stakeholders to promote and deliver Devon County Council and the Heart of the South West (HotSW) Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) priority outcomes, and support the team in helping Devon County recover from the economic impact of Covid 19.  The appointee will work with members of the team to develop skills in the use of DCC finance system in order to assist with purchase orders and budget monitoring, and also work in partnership with colleagues and external partners to coordinate the promotion and delivery of a range of economic development activities using research and evaluation reports, organisation of events, maintenance of team websites, targeted social media campaigns and development of content for newsletters and press releases.

Applicants will have excellent writing skills, excellent IT skills, have the ability to use own initiative and make decisions, good communication and marketing skills, the ability to manage workloads with conflicting priorities, and the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English. Applicants should be enthusiastic and have a creative approach to work, be flexible, be adaptable to change, have the ability to accurately under pressure to tight deadlines, be confident, tactful and have a diplomatic approach to enquiries, and be a self-starter and ne proactive.

Interviews – 29 and 30 November 2021                                                                                                       

Application closing date – 23 November 2021

For further information and details of how to apply click here or email [email protected]

The University of Exeter is an equal opportunity employer which is 'Positive About Disabled People': if you have a disability, you should mention this in your application. Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented in the workforce.